


Secrets to Tell

by butterflyprince (rinmatsuokaswife)



Category: RWBY
Genre: Author Is Sleep Deprived, Books, F/F, F/M, Nerdiness, Trans Character, Trans!Blake Belladonna
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-17
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-04-04 19:48:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4150554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rinmatsuokaswife/pseuds/butterflyprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Weiss has fallen in love at first sight with a cute, shy book nerd. But is this boy in black really what he seems to be? What kind of secrets could he be trying to hide... </p>
<p>Weiss x Trans!Blake, Monochrome</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Before seeing that girl on the first day of school, Weiss had always fantasized about the boy in black she had met over the summer.

Her parents had been concerned about Weiss' activities for the few 2 months, as she had gotten into spending time watching TV, so they had sent her to the library to sign up for Summer Reading. She wasn't exactly overexcited about the idea of having to read books every day; but it was an idea she completely got over the day she saw him.

She had just entered Vale's county library, astounded by the countless amount of books, the shelves forming labyrinths with endless twists and turns. It didn't help that the building was several floors; and it didn't help that she hardly knew her way around the library in the first place. It wasn't a location that she tended to frequent in her spare time. Where even were the librarians? She could hardly find a help desk.

Weiss tried taking different passages through the first floor, searching for a teen's section of some sort, but the library didn't have any maps marked with a "You Are Here" indicator around the place. The staff seemed to just assume that everyone knew their way around. By the time, she had rounded the same corner at least 3 different times, she was starting to get concerned.

Her state of mind must have reflected easily onto her face, because suddenly, a hand tapped lightly on her shoulder.

"Um, hey, are you lost?"

Weiss pivoted her gaze to where this voice was coming from, only to come across a person she would never forget.

The voice belonged to a boy, a young-looking teenager, perhaps around the same age as her. He was somewhat tall, his height maybe a few inches higher than hers. His skin was pale, almost white like paper, as if he always burned under the sun. One thing that struck Weiss right away was the lack of color about him. If there was a color to represent him, it would definitely be black; his thick wavy hair with a curtain-like fringe was black. The long-sleeved hooded sweatshirt with a white 'The Great Gatsby' graphic he wore was black. The tight-fitting skinny jeans that caressed his legs were black. The canvas sneakers with one shoe untied were black. The beanie that covered the top of his head was black.

The only thing about him that wasn't black were his eyes: a fierce, striking amber, full of intensity.

And full of secrets.

He wasn't the type of boy that Weiss would usually associate with. He wasn't the type of boy who anyone in Weiss' crowd would associate with. Weiss could easily imagine her friends disdaining him, calling him "an emo freak" or a "dumb misfit". She remembered walking with a group of friends in a mall once and passing by a large group of goth kids, dressed in their dark, gloomy glamour. They had all scowled, wrinkled their noses. "Those lame goth kids are so full of themselves; how can they think they're so cool? They just look stupid."

But she didn't feel that way about this boy. She couldn't muster the dark emotions that her friends had felt when they saw boys like him. There was a certain aura about this boy; the way one of his eyes was hidden under his hair, the glow of kindness that emanated from his pretty irises, the inquisitive tilt of his head. No, she felt quite the opposite.

She thought he was adorable.

That day, the boy helped Weiss find her way around the little city of books, being sweet enough to give her a personal tour so that way she would know her way around. The tour lasted hours, much to Weiss' happiness, and it was through this tour that she learned his name.

Blake.

Just saying his name made her heart skip a beat.

Weiss didn't stop going to that library over the summer. She could hardly remember a single day that she didn't go; in fact, she always tried to spend her entire day there. It was the same routine: get up, eat breakfast, go to the library, get lunch, go back to the library, go home, eat dinner, sleep.

And she didn't regret it at all.

Because for most of that time well-spent at the library, she was able to spend time with Blake. Blake was one of the kindest human beings she'd ever met. He was gentle, reserved, quiet, intelligent. He always listened to what Weiss had to say before inserting his own opinion. He only interrupted if he got excited over a certain topic; god, he was such a nerd. He wasn't afraid of awkward silences, unlike most of the boys Weiss had ever interacted with. In fact, he seemed comfortable with them, and he made Weiss feel comfortable with them too. Sure, he could be shy and stiff when they were talking with other people like the librarians, but Weiss found that endearing. Although she tried her best to understand that shy people weren't always comfortable in social situations, so she'd try not to make him feel too uneasy.

For the first few days, they were simply acquaintances, learning about each other and learning to get used to one another. After a few weeks, they each invited each other out for coffee. After several weeks, they were meeting everyday first thing when they got to the library. To discuss new finds and new amazing plot holes, to debate on new character motivations and new fascinating theories. Weiss loved it. Weiss loved every single second of it.

She had never loved anyone like this in her entire life. She loved Blake in different ways, obviously. He was handsome, with a cute, round face, cute, full lips, cute, slender figure. She loved how the pale complexion of his skin contrasted so sharply with the dark color of his clothes. She loved how his amber eyes glinted with enthusiasm at the subject of something he loved. She loved how his long fringe swept and covered over his right eye so mysteriously. She loved how his deep rumble of laughter sounded like a cat's purr.

But she loved Blake in other ways too. She loved him for his secrets. He was enamored with books. If he was allowed to marry something that wasn't alive, it would be with books. It was like he had read almost every book in the entire library; he could name the books people were reading by the color scheme of their covers, hear the name of a random character and name the books they could be from. And he could give an entire critique about what he thought of a book, what he liked or didn't like about it, constructive feedback for what the author should do to improve, and so on and so forth. But he did so in a way that made the listener want to keep hearing what he was saying; it entranced Weiss' attention so easily.

There were other smaller secrets about him too, of course. He loved drinking tea. He was scared of dogs. He had an entire beanie collection, in many assorted colors. One of his favorite books was "Ninjas of Love". He didn't handle stress well. He didn't always just wear black; sometimes he came to the library in blue jeans, or green hoodies, or gray shoes. When Weiss asked why he loved black so much, Blake said that he wore it to feel invisible; like a shadow. But he had laughed after that comment.

"If anything, it probably makes me stand out more."

Weiss furrowed her eyebrows, concerned.

"You don't like to be seen?"

"Sometimes." Blake smiled. "But maybe I secretly just want to be noticed."

* * *

A few weeks later, Weiss learned something important about Blake; an enormous secret she'd thought she would never ever hear.

They had just been hanging out as usual, hidden in the very back of the 3rd floor, ignored by many of the other library visitors thanks to the wall-like shelves. Weiss had been trying to introduce some sort of physical contact into their relationship as of late; a week prior, she had started doing small things, like patting his shoulder or poking his arm. Each one sent tingles into her bloodstream. He seemed to be responding to it, returning the same little touches every so often. But then, Weiss noticed a little crumple underneath Blake's beanie. It had been bugging her the entire time, sticking out like a straight-up triangle. It was puzzling. After laughing together at a joke, Weiss pointed it out.

"Blake, there's something weird sticking out from underneath your hat," she had said. Before he could react, she raised her hand and tapped her fingers on the weird lump. The lump twitched. Weiss flinched back. "It moved!"

When she looked back at Blake's face, it was as red as a tomato. "Oh my god."

"Blake, what was th—" Without letting her finish, Blake placed his hand over her mouth, putting his finger to his lips. "Shhhh…" But his breath sounded shaky, as if something horrifying had happened to him, and was putting his heart on edge.

He led her to the bathrooms, where he pulled her into one of the individual, gender-neutral rooms when no one was looking, and closed the door behind them. Weiss could feel her face grow hot from his actions, as well as his touch.

When he turned to her, he said he had been lying to her, not being honest with her, making it seem that he was something else to her. Weiss remembered feeling so confused; what had been that thing under his hat? Finally, Blake pulled up some of his hat to show the secret.

He had cat ears.

Small, cute little cat ears.

"You're a Faunus," Weiss whispered in awe.

Blake's cheeks were heating up so much that she swore she could feel the heat from them, even if they weren't standing so close. "You're gonna tell everyone, aren't you," he murmured, averting his gaze away. "I-I understand if you don't like me anymore." While his expression could've appeared calm from a distance, up close he looked almost frustrated.

Weiss maybe would've been angry before, if this boy she had fallen in love with had been a Faunus the entire time. Her family hated Faunus; always going on about how they were the ones ruining her parents' company, ruining the economy, ruining good business deals. Distant relatives, dying one by one from the antics of the White Fang. It brought sadness to her heart to hear of these things, and it wasn't totally fair that they had to strike out on humans with such violence.

But Blake wasn't behind all of that. Some select few members of his people might've been. But Blake wasn't.

She knew too well that this quiet, docile, book-loving teenager in black would never do something like that.

And then she said something that made Blake do a double-take.

"I don't care."

It had taken him a while to understand her, but soon enough, the boy and girl's friendship reached a new level, a new kind of trust Weiss had only dreamed of achieving with him. Blake was entrusting her with one of his biggest secrets, after all. The two started sharing deep, personal sentiments about loneliness and feeling abandoned. Weiss was able to start sharing some of her own big secrets too. Like how she was usually ignored and left to her own devices by her busy family, how she used to call her serving maid "Mama". Blake didn't even live with his real family anymore; he was currently staying with some foster parents. Whenever they weren't talking about books, they were talking about their feelings: their mysteries.

The last week of summer was the hardest for Weiss, because Blake wasn't sure which school he would be attending that year. Weiss was tempted to tell him to try coming to Beacon Academy, but she figured from his family and financial situation that he wouldn't be attending an expensive, hard-to-get-into school that trained Hunters for battle, so she never mentioned it. The only detail he gave was that he was probably gonna end up at a public school, anything that would accept him for free. She hated the last week the most; because the oncoming dread that she and Blake would be separated only worsened.

On the very last day, Blake kept trying to comfort Weiss, as she was in a dark mood and wasn't afraid to hide it. He brought her by the hand up to a private area on the 4th floor, hidden by a set of three walls made by three different shelves. He sat her down on a bench beside him, not letting go of her hand. He rubbed her palm with his thumb kindly, staring at her in the eye as the tears almost welled up.

Before they both had to leave, Weiss could no longer bear it. Before he walked away, left her alone in the huge building which they had shared together for the last two months, Weiss stopped him, pulled him in close, and kissed him.

It was Weiss' first kiss; she hadn't been too sure on what to do once their lips collided. Her hands were holding at the crook of his elbow, her eyes completely shut. Millions of emotions went through her head. How was she kissing the boy of her dreams? What if he didn't like that she was kissing him? What if she was making him uncomfortable? What if he wanted to leave and never see her again? What if he hated her? She wanted to pull back, but a selfish part of her wasn't letting her.

She almost lost it when Blake put his hands on her arms and parted his lips open to kiss back.

Thousands of electric volts went through her skin. They stood there for a minute so, a passerby or two giving them funny looks, before finally, Blake slowly pulled away.

Without saying anything, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek, his hand holding the other side of her face, and he left.

And that was it. Weiss' failed summer romance had just come to an end.

Or so she thought.

* * *

8:15AM, early in the morning, the first day of school at Beacon Academy. Weiss shivered with anticipation, meeting up with some friends and carefully following her class schedule, the distant memory of Blake still on her lips.

She ended up yawning through most of her classes, listening while half asleep for a few minutes to the basic introductions that the different teachers gave. Every speech was the same; there was hardly any point in hearing each and every one. They could hardly give as good of a deliverance as Blake could.

Weiss still remained bitter about the silent split between the two of them, but she was trying her best to shake it off and just forget it. She would probably never see him again; and even if he did see her, it's not like he'd say hi. She'd completely embarrassed herself by kissing him without his consent. Maybe she'd gone too far.

She was still wrapped up in these thoughts when she came to her Grimm Studies class, taught by the pudgy Mr. Peter Port, when she saw him.

Or was it him?

There was a girl who sat a few seats away from her to the right. Her long, thick wavy black hair curled around her face, her skin pale white and her figure slim. From what she could tell, the girl was very pretty, sitting with her back perfectly straight, exposing an ample pair of breasts and a thick set of hips, which she could only see when she had been standing. A large black bow was sitting on the top of her head.

When Weiss laid eyes on her, she couldn't help but feel like she looked familiar. Why did this girl look so much like Blake? This girl was like his female counterpart. Aside from the hair, the butt, and the boobs, what kind of coincidence made these two look incredibly similar? Weiss narrowed her eyes. She couldn't be too sure yet. Everyone in the school was dressed in the Beacon Academy uniform, so she wasn't able to analyze this girl's personal sense of style. And she hadn't even seen the color of her eyes yet; just the smoky purple eyeshadow that tinted her lids. Blake's eyes had a certain shade to them that she herself could recognize in an instant.

But then the girl turned her gaze to her left towards Weiss to check the clock; and both of their eyes widened. Weiss felt her jaw drop.

Her eyes were amber; fierce and striking, full of intensity.

Of secrets.

 _Oh. My. God_.

But how?

How was this possible?

Did Blake have a hidden twin sister that he had never talked about?

The girl was staring at Weiss like she had a giant tarantula on her face. She wasn't blinking.

"Girls, this is no time for a staring contest," Mr. Port said from the bottom of the classroom. Some of the people sitting around them giggled. Both Weiss and the girl broke eye contact and quickly looked away, both reddening in embarrassment.

He continued talking, but Weiss was no longer listening any more. White noise filled her ears like a flood, and suddenly, she couldn't hear anything. There was no mistaking it; that girl was Blake. Only Blake had eyes as sharp and as beautiful as hers. And that black bow; what was that hiding? She remembered there being a rule about hats being somewhat frowned upon; that was why most kids in the school didn't wear them. Blake always seemed to feel the most secure when wearing his beanie; in fact, Weiss had never really seen Blake without his beanie. He was always scared to show his ears. Wait, was he no longer a "he" now? Was he a "she"?

Did that mean she had actually kissed a  _girl_?

When the bell rang, Weiss made an effort to quickly get up out of her chair and drop a hand-written note on the girl's desk before she could leave. She scurried to the door, but got in farther back behind the line of people filing out, trying to blend in with the others, trying to wait for her to come closer. The girl was walking towards the door, reading the note in hand.

Soon the girl approached without knowing it, all of a sudden almost right next to Weiss. People kept pushing and shoving, trying to get out the door even faster.

Weiss raised a hand and brushed her fingers gently on one part of the bow. Something was hiding underneath it; something that felt distinctly like an ear.

There was no doubt about it now.

Blake's eyes shot up and stared directly into Weiss'. Their gazes locked. Weiss placed her hand on her arm, the old tingles coming back through her bloodstream again.

The note had said,

" _Come talk with me after class. Are there any other huge secrets you have to tell me?_

 _\- Weiss_ "


	2. Chapter 2

Just as the two exited the classroom and out into the large main hallway, Blake was suddenly trying to get as far away from Weiss as possible.

The roar of all the teenagers in the school were filling her ears, but it sounded quiet from the sound of her panicked heartbeat. As the cluster of students flooded the Beacon Academy halls, Weiss tugged desperately on Blake's arm, who was pulling away, trying to disappear into the crowd. Why was he running away from her now?

"Blake, stop! What are you doing?!" Weiss was attempting to wrap both of her arms around Blake's one arm, to hold her, or him, or whatever Blake's gender was now, down. Blake was headed for an entirely different direction, shoving on Weiss' hands so she would release.

"Let go of me—!" Blake snapped.

Weiss felt a small part of her cringe; she'd hardly ever seen Blake get so upset. The only time she'd ever seen Blake get this nasty was when a group of boys their age were mishandling the library books by throwing them back and forth like they were playing catch. Weiss could remember it so clearly; the way his hair had bristled like every one of his hairs was on end, the corner of his lip pulled up in contempt, the gentle flame in his eyes now a roaring inferno. When the boys refused to put down the books (one asshole stomped on one), Blake's fist had shot so quickly that Weiss hadn't even seen it coming.

They had left in fear, one with a bloody mouth and a broken tooth, scattering from the library and they never showed again.

Would Blake get as upset as he had that day, but with her instead?

"Why are you doing this, Blake?!" Weiss demanded. The fear in her voice was becoming more and more prominent with every word.

Blake yanked his arm away from Weiss violently, her hands unable to firmly grasp it as it slipped away. Weiss stood in shock, while Blake stood beside her, scowling while rubbing at his arm. Several people walked around them, watching both for a short moment like they were crazy.

"Blake, I just want to talk to y—"

"Just don't," he interrupted. His voice sounded angry, almost enraged, but his eyes were glued to the ground. He wouldn't return any of her perplexed expressions. It was almost as if he was reluctant to look at her. "Just stay away from me."

And without another word, Blake disappeared, leaving Weiss alone in the hall, surrounded by peers who wouldn't understand the emotional impact of what had just happened.

* * *

For the first three months of school, Blake acted like Weiss didn't exist. Whenever she walked past, he turned his head away to look at a clock. Whenever she tried to make eye contact with him, he took out his scroll and examined his Aura levels. Whenever she tried to talk to him, he rushed away as quickly as possible, power walking to the nearest door. And each time he did; Weiss almost imagined it; he looked guilty.

At this point, Weiss was devastated. Her heart was sinking faster than a heavy anchor in the ocean. There was a turmoil going on in her head, a hurricane of emotions that she couldn't seem to stop. First of all, she was confused. Deeply confused. What was Blake's actual gender? Why had he presented himself to her as a boy, when now, he seemed to be a girl? What had happened between that summer and now? She had so many questions that she wanted answered, but she couldn't get the answers she wanted.

And second of all, she was hurt. Hurt that Blake wasn't telling her what was wrong, hurt that Blake was ignoring her, hurt that Blake wasn't trusting her with the truth, after all they had been through. Was it the kiss? Maybe everything going on was her fault. Maybe that kiss had proved to Blake that she was no longer worth entrusting his secrets to. Maybe the kiss had made him nervous. Maybe he just didn't want to make things awkward between them. Maybe he didn't like her.

Maybe he hated her.

Late at night, Weiss would sob softly into her wet pillow, wishing she had never kissed Blake on the last day of summer.

* * *

It was only in Weiss' PT and Dueling class that she thought she might have a chance at getting the answers she needed.

It was early in the morning in December, her very first class of the day, that Weiss met the outgoing Yang Xiao Long. They had been assigned to sit next to each other for the new seating chart, and Weiss discovered that her new table partner was actually pretty cool.

The first thing she noticed about Yang Xiao Long was what kind of appearance she made; she confirmed it to be a memorable one, as her chromosomes seemed to line up very nicely. Put bluntly, the girl was drop-dead gorgeous. Someone had told Weiss that she looked like one of those girls who belonged in Carls Jr. commercials, dressed in a skimpy outfit and sexually chomping down on a big burger while spotlights accentuated the size of her breasts. Not only was her chest probably a D cup, but she also had fabulous thick blond hair, stunning lilac eyes, and a contagious smile to compliment it.

Weiss expected Yang to give a scowl of disdain when she came over to sit beside her, like most pretty girls, but she was disproven when the girl went in for a nice hand shake instead.

"Nice to meet ya, Weiss," she said warmly. "I like how straight your hair is, it looks so soft. Do you have any  _tips_  for me?" She held a lock of hair in her hand, pointing at its' ends.

Her cheeky grin was hard to ignore.

Weiss smiled, crossing her arms. "Clever girl," she murmured. "How do you get your hair so blond? Every time I try to color my hair, it just washes out like shampoo. I think I might just  _dye_."

The look on Yang's face made Weiss feel triumphant.

"I haven't even known you for 20 seconds and I like you already."

"Thanks, same to you. And sorry for not answering your question yet. Blame my  _shear_  rudeness."

Yang looked like she was gonna choke up. "Weiss Schnee, you are  _the best_!"

Over time, the two eventually became good buds, helping each other with assignments and teaming up for partner projects. Weiss felt odd, that someone as cool and confident as Yang was even talking to her at all. The fact that she seemed to view her as a complete equal made her blush. How was Yang so different from the typical beauty? She was a living example of how looks weren't everything, and how not all people are just one stereotype. The fact that she was admiring someone who glorified puns made her laugh, either way.

Weiss had also never thought too much about the people Yang hung out with. She figured she had loads of friends, mostly carefree, spontaneous, fun individuals like herself.

But then she caught her on her scroll one day before class.

She had a call. Yang waved a quick hello to Weiss before bringing the device to her ear.

"Yellooo… Oh, hey Blake!"

… Blake?

Weiss' head jolted to the side.

"Yeah, yeah… Wait, what?! … Shit, I'm so sorry, I forgot about that. Are you feeling okay? … Well, alright. I'll talk to you after school, OK? … Alright-y. Bye."

Yang put her scroll back into her blazer pocket and sat down next to Weiss, letting out a big sigh. She seemed tired and irritable after the short call. "Man, what a shitty way to start the day." She turned to Weiss, furrowing a brow in concern. "Weiss, are you okay?"

Weiss blinked. "U-Uh, yeah, I'm good."

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Oh, no, definitely not a ghost. More like an angel, actually."

Yang laughed. "An angel?" She shook her head in disbelief, before speaking again. "Are you trying to flirt with me, Weiss? Or are you just  _winging_  it?"

"Shut up!" Weiss slapped Yang's arm, smiling again. She had a good reason to. She now finally knew someone with connections to the one whose attention she was trying to get.

* * *

"So who's Blake?" Weiss asked one day randomly during class. She figured that Yang wouldn't get too much onto her case if she tried to play it casual. And she was dying to know more about someone who wasn't letting her get very close.

"What are you, my mom?" Yang grinned. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, just curious. I've heard that name around before."

Yang leaned on her fist. "You have?"

"Yeah." Weiss came up with a random excuse on the spot. "Just some dirty gossip and the what not, you know?"

She snorted. "Dirty gossip? You never struck me as the type, Weiss."

She smiled, embarrassed. "Well, maybe just this once I'm making an exception."

"Well, okay. But first—" Her smile melted away. In seconds, she looked stern and serious. It reminded Weiss of how people would change their facial expressions magically by lowering their hand over their face, but this time without any sort of hand. It was the sort of transformation that happened immediately. "Tell me what you've heard about Blake in this 'dirty gossip'."

She raised an eyebrow. What direction had this conversation turned to? "Um… I heard she was… experimenting, or something…" Was she giving away too much already by saying 'experimenting'?

"What do you mean experimenting?" Yang asked. Her tone sounded awfully dry. Weiss felt her hand twitch. This wasn't like her.

"I guess… experimenting… sexually…?"

"Oh." She paused, as if this answer hadn't been what she was expecting. "Okay." She readjusted herself. "That's not so bad, actually." She stiffened. "Not as bad as I thought, at least," she muttered quietly.

"What?"

"Nothing. Wait a minute, then." She raised an eyebrow, a snarky look on her face. A little bit of her smile was returning. "Why are you interested in a girl who's experimenting sexually, huh, Weiss?"

Weiss' cheeks turned pink faster than a speeding bullet. How was she supposed to respond to this? And more importantly, had Yang finally clarified Blake's official gender? Did that make Blake a girl?

"You're not gay, are you, Weiss?"

Great, now she had her trapped in a corner. Weiss was about to panic. Was she gonna throw her identity on the line for the sake of some person she was trying to get in touch with again? From what she knew by experience, she had never really expressed much attraction to girls. She maybe had had some simple girl crushes, but that was the most of her exploration in girls as potential lovers. In most cases, she probably wouldn't lie about her sexuality. Not that it was ultra important to her, but she knew that lying about personal information could cause a lot of unforeseen problems. There weren't that many people out there who Weiss would sacrifice her 'straightness' for.

But maybe it was all worth it. Blake wasn't just some person. Blake was Blake. The beautiful, handsome black-haired boy with the prettiest amber eyes and an unhealthy yet compassionate obsession with books. Weiss loved Blake. He, or she, was the best thing to have ever happened to her out of all of her summers. Yes, it was worth it.

"No, I am."

"Wait. Really?"

"Yeah. I'm gay."

"Oh my god, I didn't actually think I was right." Yang was grinning like an idiot, as if she had won some kind of grand prize for guessing someone's sexuality right. "I'll be honest with you, honey; my gaydar was going off like sirens the first day I saw you."

Weiss laughed. Had it really? That was amusing to hear. Considering the guy she liked turned out to be a girl, maybe it wasn't so much of a lie. "Well darn, I guess you caught me," she joked.

"That's hilarious," Yang giggled. "So then does that mean that you've got a crush on Blake?"

Oh god, her face was most definitely red now. "H-Hold on a minute," she protested. What Yang had said wasn't exactly untrue. But it wasn't a fact that she wanted Yang to know about it either.

"Ooooooooooooo, Weiss!" Yang smirked sleazily, raising both eyebrows. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I totally could've hooked the two of you up yesterday."

"I-It's not that!" Weiss practically smacked the table with both hands. A few people turned around to the noise. "Look, there's just not that many people in this school like me. I don't hear that much about an LGBT crowd around here… And I heard recently that someone named Blake was experimenting, so I've just been interested to learn about… her, I guess."

Yang narrowed her eyes. "Sooo… you're just stalking her?"

"I-It's not stalking!"

Now more people were listening. Weiss noticed that two people sitting in front of them, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, had just started paying attention. Well, Nora was; Ren was studying a lesson that Ms. Goodwitch had given them last class. Nora stared at Weiss wide-eyed, excitably, her mouth shaped like an O. "Omigod, Weiss! I didn't know you were gay!" She leapt out of her seat and hopped on to Weiss and Yang's table, putting her hands together. "Have you had a coming out party yet?! You should totally throw one! I loooove parties… Will there be cake?"

Yang snickered. "She probably threw a party already, Nora. I doubt Weiss just decided to come out right now."

Weiss laughed nervously.

"What?! Well, you should have another one, just so the school knows that you bat for the other team, if you know what I mean." Nora grinned.

Ms. Goodwitch entered the classroom, setting her bag down on the floor next to her desk. "Class is starting, people!" she shouted. "And Nora, get off the table!"

While the teacher talked on and on, Weiss thought more and more about what a big decision she had just made. Now she was posing as a gay student; fantastic. Every time she would look in the mirror from here on out, it would be like someone had just written the word "GAY" in red sharpie on her forehead. She imagined the future, getting labeled as one of Beacon Academy's token lesbians. It wasn't a horrible future, even if it wasn't correct. But she found herself worrying about getting bullied for it. Hopefully this school wasn't homophobic… And if it was, she had basically just signed herself up for jail. If the entire school did find out that she was a lesbian, all she was hoping for was no verbal or physical discrimination, and no derogatory slurs getting spray-painted on her locker.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Yang poked her lightly on the arm.

"I know this might be a bad time to say this to you," she whispered, "and I really really do hate to break this to you. But Blake's not actually gay."

Weiss wasn't really sure how to react to this because she hardly knew about Blake's situation in the first place. When she had met Blake as a guy, he had seemed somewhat flirty with her. And when she kissed him, he had kissed back. Hell, he had even given her a quick peck on the cheek before getting out of the library. But now, Weiss met Blake again, but this time as a girl. What did any of this really say about Blake's sexuality? Was Blake a heterosexual boy dressing as a homosexual girl (who apparently wasn't homosexual)? Was Blake a homosexual girl who had dressed as a guy during the summer (and if she wasn't gay, then why had she kissed her)? There were too many questions unanswered, and at the moment, the only expression Weiss could think of wearing on her face was some sort of half-assed attempt at disappointment.

"Oh," she whispered back.

"Well, okay, that's not entirely the case," Yang murmured. "It's just—a really complicated situation right now. Blake is attracted to girls, but not in the way you think. I can't tell you what she's going through in detail, but that's all I can say to you."

What…? She felt lost.

"Are you saying she's still in the closet…?" Weiss asked.

Yang stiffened. "Well, she is. But it's not really about her sexuality."

After class, Yang gave Weiss a quick goodbye, which was kind of like saying 'I don't want you to ask anymore questions so I'm just gonna dash before you ask me anything' without saying anything, and left the classroom, leaving a confused Weiss behind. Nora approached her from the side. "So, do lesbians have this gay mating dance that they use to seduce the other lesbians?" she asked. "I know that guys have this straight mating dance they use to get the girls, where they take their shirts off and thrust their hips like monkeys. Do gay people have a similar shtick going on?"

* * *

A week later, Weiss was visited while standing at her, thankfully not-defiled, locker, by two girls.

"Hey," one said, her tone relaxed.

They both seemed like pretty average girls for the Beacon Academy crowd. Both were a bit tall, brown-haired, and brown-eyed, but one had her hair cropped short with red tips on her right fringe, while the other had grown it out long and cut bangs across her forehead. The short-haired girl looked like one of those high-fashion-shoppers who wore ordinary pants that were not regularly priced, and her shoes definitely did not look like they were bought from a thrift store. Her eyes could barely be seen behind the thick black sunglasses that covered them, and a matching cap was on her head. She had a confident atmosphere to her, looking like a celebrity paired with her expensive couture.

The long-haired girl, meanwhile, wasn't even human: her long brown bunny ears were no secret as they stuck out from the top of her head. She had seen her getting bullied by assholes who tugged on her ears and made fun of her for being a Faunus. She briefly thought of Blake, but pushed the thought away. She was rather cute, and innocent-looking, and she brought an unnatural maternal instinct to Weiss that she had never thought of before: it was weird. Her outfit was somewhat more modest, and looked more combat-ready, functional. Her stance was less open, however: while her posture was nice, she looked like she wanted to hunch over and curl up into a ball.  _Not very talkative_ , she figured. She held a clipboard in her crossed arms.

"Uh, hi," Weiss responded, still holding her books in her arms.

"You must be Weiss Schnee, right?" the short-haired girl continued.

"Yeah, that's me."

The girl smiled. "Nice to meet you, Weiss," she said. "My name's Coco Adel, and this is Velvet Scarlatina. We're here to talk to you about this new club we're trying to start."

_Some kind of recruiters_ , Weiss thought. "Cool. What's this club about?"

"Well, it's gonna be a GSA," Coco responded.

"A what?"

"Velvet, you explain it better than me." Coco nudged Velvet with her elbow. She almost flinched.

"A-um, a G-GSA stands for gay-straight alliance. A-According to recent studies, researchers have found that schools that are more open and accepting of LGBTQ individuals improves the chances of success of those students, more bonds and friendships between straight students and queer students, and overall a better sense of school community. Many queer students today often feel alone or different, but t-that's because they don't know any other fellow students that are like them…" Velvet quieted.

Well this was a good sign. Beacon Academy appeared to be accepting enough of gay students to the point that they wanted to make a club for them. Weiss secretly sighed with relief.

"Oh, that's pretty cool," Weiss noted. "So, are you guys just spreading the news about it or something?"

Coco laughed. It almost sounded nervous. "I guess you could say that's one part of our mission, but that's not entirely the reason why we're here."

"Oh. Then, why are you here?"

"Here's the thing, Weiss. The creators of the future gay-straight alliance, including us, really want this club to be legitimate. It's one of our number one priorities. We want the club to be a safe place for regular LGBTQ students to socialize and make friends, a nice place to use for comfort or reassurance, and the like. And to get those things, we need a certain something. Actually, more like a certain someone."

"Someone?" Weiss asked. "What kind of person do you need?"

"Velvet, you want to tell her?" Coco asked.

Velvet hesitated, the red in her cheeks becoming more apparent.

"W-We need a gay student to join."

…

Oh.

_Now_  Weiss knew why these girls were approaching her in the first place.

Did the GSA they wanted to create so badly not have any actual gay people joining?

"Ah. I see."

The tension in the air had turned awkward.

"Soooooo… How do I sign up?"

Coco seemed to perk up a little. "You're going to sign up? Awesome! You can sign right here." Without hesitating a second, she took the clipboard out of Velvet's hands and placed it right on top of the stack of books Weiss was carrying.

"Uh, can you give me a s—"

"Let's just take those big, heavy books out of your hands," she said quickly, pulling one half of the stack from out of Weiss' hands, while Velvet took the other.

Reluctantly, Weiss took the attached pen into one hand and tentatively wrote her name and email on the page. She exchanged the clipboard for her books from Coco and Velvet.

"Anyway, thanks a ton, Weiss! We'll look forward to having you over once we get the club established. Have a good day!" And the two walked a way, a little spring in their steps, probably happy about their accomplishment of getting a queer student to sign up for their gay-straight alliance.

* * *

A few days later, Mr. Port made an announcement to the class.

"Today, we're going to start on our new project! And good news, folks; it's a partner project!"

Surprisingly, everyone in the classroom seemed joyful. Weiss rolled her eyes. She had always found herself looking down on partner projects. She preferred working alone on projects: dealing with a partner could get complicated and occasionally irritating. And everyone always got so excited when one was announced, because now they could just pick their friends and hardly do any good work together.

"However, don't immediately think that you all can just choose your partners," Mr. Port interrupted. "Imagine that. Students irresponsibly choosing their own groups. That would be simply disastrous!" His hearty laugh probably sounded more evil than jovial. "For this case, I will be the one choosing the groups. But don't worry, I'll be taking careful consideration to make good, balanced partners."

The class groaned. Meanwhile, this was a relief to Weiss. She didn't have a lot of friends in her Grimm Studies class. As long as she was assigned a smart partner, then the whole project would be no huge deal.

"I'm going to be setting up the partners today during class. In the mean time, I'd like you all to complete a few readings of our class textbook, and I'll also be passing out the project's steps and rules so you'll understand its parameters." He wrote a couple of page numbers on the board. "Make sure to do the mentioned exercises as well; on college-ruled notebook paper, not a random scrap, if you please!"

Weiss could hear the mumbles of disappointment being shared around the classroom. She was tempted to smirk. Ignoring everyone else's grumbling, she decided to turn her attention to the reading assignment, and opened up her textbook to the pages listed in front of her.

As she read, took notes, and answered questions about the physiology of Boarbatusks, Weiss wondered if Blake was also unhappy about having to work in partners. Blake had always struck her as the independent type; all of his favorite activities had been activities that were better done alone. He liked reading while slouched in a comfy chair, sometimes with noise-canceling headphones to block out the sounds of the outside world. He liked baking cookies, especially an interesting kind called 'cinnamon roll sugar cookies', which were regular sugar ones designed to look like cinnamon rolls. He liked drawing his favorite fictional characters from the books he read: although he always modestly claimed that he wasn't that good. All of the mentioned sports he had played weren't team sports. Maybe he was good with partners; although shy, he was still cooperative, from what she knew about him.

After completing the exercises, she examined the project details that had been passed around the classroom across the long desks. The project was titled "Grimm Species Partner Research Paper". Students were to be grouped into pairs and were required to put extensive online and offline research into an assigned species of Grimm. They would have to gather and cite their sources, and write a sophisticated paper about the monster, including imbedded diagrams and images. Weiss silently shrugged to herself. It seemed like an easy project, for the most part. The only concern that could make it difficult was the whole partner thing.

When she finished reading the paper, Weiss took a quick peek to the right to see how Blake was doing. He still looked as feminine and girly since the first day of school, his thick black waves almost forming a curtain to cover his profile. It had made Weiss realize how androgynous his face really was. He could've looked masculine or feminine, if he was dressed properly for each gender. She examined Blake's face when he pushed a lock of hair behind his human-like ear. He still wore a signature purple smoky eye, but different from usual, there was silver shimmery eyeshadow on the inner lid. Liquid black eyeliner swept precisely near his lash line and flicked out like a wing. His lashes were thick from a black mascara. Completely flawless application.

Her jaw completely dropped when Blake unexpectedly turned her way.

Blake's eyes enlarged when he saw Weiss looking at him, and his gaze shot away, back to his textbook, lips pursed. Weiss felt her face fall. Once Blake made it clear that he wasn't going to give her any sign of recognition, she brought her eyes back down to her work, blinking hard to keep the tears away. When one came out of her eye, she rubbed it as fast as she could. For her, when one tear trickled, more and more trickled until she couldn't stop.

"Alright, class, I hope you've finished the readings and the questions," Mr. Port said aloud, thankfully interrupting her thoughts and keeping her from crying. "The exercises that weren't finished today are now homework, which will be due… tomorrow, yes, because for the rest of class, we will be focusing on getting a head start on the project. Is everybody clear?"

"Yes," the class muttered.

"I've finished setting up the partners," Mr. Port continued. "I was very selective about who should work with who. Heck, it reminded me of the good ol' days when we had to get paired up into squad groups in the military when we were going out to war. A light memory from a dark time, if you know what I mean…" He went off track for a few minutes, just as he always did when getting into a lecture.

"Anyway, the partnering was partially paired by class grade ratio, but also paired by who I thought would work best with who. I'm hoping to see how well these groups work out, and I'm excited to get started on this project! It's an old favorite of mine, after all."

Weiss quietly listened as Mr. Port started naming off the groups. She wasn't surprised about a certain few of them. Timid yet fairly smart Jaune Arc was paired with loud but dumb school bully Cardin Winchester; it didn't help that Mr. Port had no idea that Jaune was getting picked on by Cardin. Powerful and intelligent Pyrrha Nikos was paired with the equally just as loud and dumb school bully Russel Thrush. Weiss wasn't liking the pattern; she herself tried really hard in school, and she didn't want to end up with someone who didn't carry their own weight like the assholes who spent all of their time making fun of their peers.

"Blake Belladonna."

"Yes?" Blake asked. Something about his voice sounded really tense, like he was nervous about who he was put in a group with.

"You'll be working with Weiss Schnee."

Had the teacher just said her name?

… Wait.

_What?_

_What?!_

Without realizing it, the two awkwardly turned to face each other from where they sat, but with open mouths. Was this seriously even happening?! Weiss could feel her feelings tearing off into two parts: one that was jumping with joy that she now had an excuse to talk to Blake, the other rolling up and curling into ball with worry about having to actually talk to Blake. She blinked a few times, almost pinched herself to see if this was real. Their eyes were locked, like they had forgotten they could choose to look away. Blake's lower lip quivered slightly. Weiss felt hers do the same. They only glanced away when the teacher started talking again.

"Okay, now that I've listed off all the groups, we are now going to start working on the project!" Mr. Port announced. "The first thing we're going to do is assign which species each group is going to do. Since we're only focusing on 8 species of Grimm, one eighth of the groups will each do a different kind of monster."

As he kept naming off which group was going to do which species, as well as a story about how he got into a short battle with a Nevermore, Weiss sat still in her spot, feeling practically incredulous. What had the chances been of the two getting in the same group? She had been really confident that the two wouldn't have ended up together. Mr. Port's way of pairing up people was by putting the smart people with the not-as-smart people, and the sort-of-smart people with the sort-of-smart people, so the results would always be balanced. Weiss wasn't exactly aware of what Blake's grade was in the class, but she was certain that Blake wasn't so dumb to be placed in the 'not-as-smart' portion. Blake was probably one of the smartest people she knew. He wasn't fond of studying unless if the lesson was in some sort of book format, and Grimm Studies revolved around several encyclopedic textbooks. He would've swallowed all the information he needed within a few days, if her estimation was correct.

"Blake and Weiss, your project will be about Ursai."

Ursai? Weiss was so nervous about this whole project that she had almost forgotten that the bear-like Grimm existed. Wait, did they look like bears? Maybe they were actually like dogs. Or were they like cats? Just like Blake's cat ears… Weiss shook her head, trying to clear her mind. She had to stop thinking so wildly. But how could she, this was a project she was going to be working on with Blake! Blake of all people! How was she even supposed to keep calm?

"And, that's all we really need to talk about for now, folks! I want all group members to find each other, get acquainted with one another, and start dividing up the work and preparing for the project. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," the class muttered.

"Okay, guys, let's, as your generation says, 'get this show on the road'! Everyone get with their groups and start working!"

In a few seconds, the class erupted into minimal noise, as people started grabbing chairs and pulling up a seat next to their group partners, some making small introductions as they hadn't met yet. Was Weiss going to be doing that with Blake? Her heart was thumping loudly in her chest, almost in her throat. Admittedly, she was terrified. The tension between the two of them would be horrendous. They both were at fault for something: Weiss had kissed Blake by surprise while thinking he was a boy when he was really a girl, and Blake had ignored Weiss for three-in-a-half months and refused to speak to her about the truth.

Weiss stood up slowly from her seat, only to find Blake already standing right next to her, his chair by his side. He blushed fiercely, clutching his books and pencil case even tighter in his arms. "I-I-I thought we c-could sit at your s-spot," he stuttered.

Weiss suddenly had to remind herself to not only breathe, but also to switch pronouns. Even if she didn't know what was really going on behind Blake's gender, Blake was clearly presenting himself as a girl at the moment, for unknown reasons. Even if Blake had been forever locked in her mind as male, she would make herself understand that Blake, for the time being, was female. Weiss would have to stop referring to him as a 'he', and start as a 'she'.

And not only that, but they didn't really have time to be worrying about personal problems. They had a project to work on. An important part of their grade.

"O-Oh," Weiss responded stupidly. "O-Okay. Cool."

The two sat down, Blake sitting a few inches away from Weiss, as if still trying to keep the distance. A tiny part of Weiss was growing frustrated with her, but she refused to let it out now.

"S-Sooooo… Ursai."

"Ursai," Blake repeated.

There was a silence between the two of them.

"D-Do you want to start finding different researching platforms?" Weiss asked. "I have a computer at home. I-I can look for websites to use."

"Y-Yeah," Blake said quickly. "I can go visit the… library."

Oh god, she mentioned the library. Weiss swallowed the lump in her throat, noticing that Blake was also feeling weird about having to bring it up. "G-Great."

Another silence. Weiss was beginning to feel self-conscious. She checked the clock behind her. They had another four long minutes until class ended. The room was still buzzing with activity from the talking students around them. She tried thinking of something to say. But she didn't know what to say. Would she bring up the book she had last heard that Blake was reading? Would she ask her how school was going? Tell her that she looked beautiful in makeup? That she looked just as beautiful as a boy? Shit, but how could she say that?

How could she say anything?

"I-I guess I'll see you tomorrow…" Blake murmured. She arose from her seat slowly. Weiss looked at the clock again. Only another two minutes. Everyone else was starting to gather their things. She looked at her scattered papers. She should start gathering her stuff too.

"O-Okay. I'll see you tomorrow…" Weiss pulled a small smile. She was even more shocked when Blake did the same.

The bell rang as Weiss shoved her materials into her backpack, the embarrassment of their pitiful interaction slowly beginning to kill her.

* * *

The next day, Weiss walked down the hallways, arms crossed and breath shaky. Her next class was the infamous Grimm Studies. She hadn't slept much that night, mainly from all the worry about how she was going to talk to Blake the next day. She had scarfed down two dinners, binge-watched a TV series she had always wanted to start until 2AM, and only started her homework by 3 o'clock. Because of this, Weiss wasn't feeling too fantastic that morning.

Thankfully, there were two things keeping her awake that day: the first one was the pills that her mother took to cope with her occasional bouts of insomnia. The second one was the anxiety of what she was going to say to Blake once she got to their shared class.

She made it there before the bell rang, and found out that Blake had too. Perfect.

Because Weiss had not only watched that TV show for several hours, but had also multi-tasked by preparing a little speech to say to Blake when they came across each other in class to discuss the project. It was something that Weiss had put a lot of thought into, because the whole issue about their 'summer friendship', so to say, had been bugging her for hours.

Heaving a big sigh to ready herself for what came next, Weiss approached Blake.

She was sitting down, her cheek leaning on her fist, her eyes glued to a novel. Different from her usual hairstyle, her black hair was pinned to the side, a French braid going down from her right temple to the back of her head near the nape of her neck, her locks all resting together on her left shoulder. Her makeup was also different: gold sparkly inner lids, with a light pink shade in the center and a deep burgundy smoked out on the outer V of her eye. The similar pattern also underneath her lower lash line, so her eye looked like it was framed by color. Her black liquid eyeliner lined her entire eye, aside from the nice flick. Even her lips looked like they had gotten some treatment, as they seemed to be painted a nude color with a glossy finish.

How was Blake so beautiful? Weiss bit her lip. Wow, she was even attracted to her when she looked like a girl. Not only attracted, but also envious of her hair and makeup skills.

"Blake."

She turned, looking up from her book, and seemed surprised immediately to find out that Weiss was talking to her. Without breaking eye contact, she slipped a piece of paper into her book and closed it. "H-Hi, Weiss," she said nervously.

Weiss realized she had forgotten to say hi herself. "Oh, sorry about that; um, hi. Anyway, I really need to talk to you, Blake."

Blake blinked. Now she knew what was up. She hesitated, before responding. "Uh, okay." She reluctantly got out of her chair, standing up to face her. Weiss almost faltered a moment. Her pretty amber eyes glimmered like shiny pools under moonlight.

"Look, there's a lot that I want to say to you, and there's a lot that I want to ask you, but I don't want there to be awkward tension between the two of us anymore. I know that I ruined everything that we had built up over the summer, and obviously there are probably some other things that I don't understand. But, I don't want the things that we did over the summer, no matter how amazing, to hold us back from having a better relationship with one another right now."

Blake stared at her. "O-Okay."

"What I'm trying to say, Blake, is that I want us to forget what happened over the summer. Just, completely wipe it away like none of it came to be. Is it okay if we just act like it ever happened? The past is ruining our interaction, and, I know that I made some bad mistakes; and I'm sorry about that. I really am. So… Can we move on from what we did over those last two months and just—start over?"

Blake paused. Weiss swallowed down her fear, worried that she would get a negative response. Had the speech not been enough to convince Blake?

"You're right."

_Oh my god she actually agrees with me_.

"Weiss, I—I've been really horrible to you lately," Blake began. Weiss' heart broke in seconds. She sounded so sad. "And I—I'm so, so sorry. I've been so awful—" Her voice almost caught. "And I would really love it if we could restart." She smiled. "I really would."

Weiss hadn't even been prepared for a response like that. She returned the smile with her own. "Thank you, so much. So, so much. Shall we just decide that everything over the summer never happened?"

"And these last three months," Blake added.

Weiss was screaming with happiness on the inside. "We're meeting for the first time, okay?"

"Okay," Blake murmured softly.

She let out a relaxed sigh. "So, I guess I should introduce myself." She held out her hand. "Hi, my name is Weiss Schnee. I don't believe I've met you yet."

Blake's lips stretched, revealing the gorgeous, glowing grin that Weiss had loved so much. "Nice to meet you, Weiss. My name is Blake Belladonna." And she put her hand out, grasping hers. The tingles shut up into her arm. They shook on it. "Nice to meet you," Weiss repeated, her face warm with relief.

The bell rang. They let go of each others hands. "Okay, we have a project to work on," Weiss said affirmatively.

Blake pulled a list of encyclopedias out of her folder. "Don't worry about the offline sources: I did my homework," she told her.

"So did I." Weiss showed a similar sheet of paper covered in website URLs.

"Awesome," Blake murmured, a smile still on her face. "'Good thing my partner does her homework too."

Weiss laughed, about to pass around behind her so she could get to her seat. But she stopped herself. "Oh, and Blake?"

Blake turned her away, her hand on her chair. "What's up?"

"You look really pretty today."

Blake blushed, the pink of her cheeks accentuating the dark blend of her bronzer, set underneath her cheekbones. But an eyebrow raised, a cheeky smile showing again. Sexy. "You don't look too bad yourself, cutie."

Weiss almost died. She couldn't tell whose face was redder; hers or Blake's.


	3. Chapter 3

It was a pretty normal Friday morning. Although no sunshine was washing through the halls from the tall, clear glass windows anymore, thanks to the switch in seasons from fall to winter; it meant the view outside was even prettier. Now, instead of seeing the summery-looking gardens that embellished the campus nicely, the trees had shed their thick foliage, leaving them naked and exposed to the snowflakes, the lukewarm pond was frozen like the floor of a skating rink, and every inch of green was covered in a blanket of snow. Weiss' favorite kind of sight.

Usually, she would've been distracted and would've stopped right in her tracks just to stop and stare at the very beauty of winter. But instead, she only allowed herself to take quick glances, as she was feeling enthusiastic and motivated about going to class; each small peek outside only pushed her forward even more.

As if the skip in her step wasn't obvious enough.

Weiss felt her heart miss a beat when she saw Blake walking towards her on her left, in the opposite direction of where she was heading. Their eyes met, and a grin grew on her lips, her gaze almost lost in Blake's beautiful amber stare. Her wavy black locks was pulled into an expertly tied top knot on her head, a separate braid wrapping around its base. As tightly as the hair seemed to be pulled back, a few naughty strands had escaped the hair tie, and curled perfectly into her cheeks, siding along the bangs that covered over her forehead. Her regular hair bow was in place, covering a secret underneath them. Her face as usual, was made up, not a single portion of her face cakey from her foundation. Highlights accentuated the height of her cheekbones, the line of her cupid's bow, the bridge of her nose. She had paired her notorious black winged cat-liner with a blue smoky eye and vampy red lip, which stole glances from various students passing by from the striking colors.

"Good morning, Blake!" she said cheerfully as they stepped closer.

Blake smiled back, giving a small wave as an amused, plucked eyebrow raised. "'Morning, Weiss."

She beamed wildly like an idiot. Her calm, gentle voice would always make her little heart sing.

It made it even better to know that she'd get to hear more of it in a few hours…

And with that, she sped down the hall happily, knowing she was going to have a good day.

* * *

A few hours later, Weiss got what she wanted.

"So you've already finished writing the introduction paragraph, right?" Blake asked.

Weiss nodded, scribbling some extra notes in her notebook. "Yeah, but I think there's still some fine-tuning to be done, so it's still kind of a rough draft." She looked up from the desk to her project partner's face. "And you've started the first development paragraph, right?"

Blake held up a sheet of paper, covered completely in writing, a triumphant smile on her face. "Finished it, actually. I couldn't type it though, the family computer was taken for the night, so i took me a while."

"Aww, that sucks," Weiss replied sadly. "Did it take you long?"

Blake laughed. "Possibly. I started at midnight and finished at 2AM."

"Whoa," Weiss murmured. Then an idea came to her head, and she smirked. "I guess we can say that you bear-ly made it."

Silence.

"What?" Blake asked in a confused tone.

She blinked.

"Oh… wow. Wow, Blake. Wow." Weiss rolled her eyes to the sky. "You really don't get it? Bear-ly? Like, bear and "ly"? Bear? Ursai? Bears look like Ursai?"

The clarity returned to Blake's eyes, and suddenly she seemed to understand it. However, the look on her face was far from impressed. "Weiss, that was terrible."

"And it's pretty terrible that I just wasted a great pun like that on you!" Weiss retorted.

A twinkle of amusement sparked in her gaze. "You're not friends with Yang, are you?"

"How'd you guess?"

She sighed. "'Should've known, her influence was becoming more and more obvious. But let's get back to the main subject here. Enough about these atrocious puns of yours." But the way she spoke made it sound like she was only joking. Weiss' eyes narrowed. If one listened carefully, it almost could've come off as a little… flirty. But Weiss waved the notion away. No need to let her repressed feelings bubble up to the surface again while she was busy working for an important grade in class.

And besides, their current situation was still rather complicated. Considering Weiss had just come out as a lesbian (whether it was true or not, even she still didn't know) for her, as well as Blake suddenly switching genders, ideas about a relationship together seemed practically preposterous. It would just make things even weirder; and it's totally not like they weren't weird enough already.

But what was even more laughable was the fact that Blake's own existence was starting to make her question her own sexual orientation. Just the thought of it brought a goofy smile to Weiss' face.

Biting her lip, she studied the checklist they had created earlier that week and crossed off the newly completed steps. "I think we're off to a good start so far. We just have to finish the second and third development paragraphs, plus the conclusion, find three useful images, create two diagrams for the data we found, and cite all of our sources."

Blake frowned, eyebrows furrowed. A loose bang hung over her eyes, seeming to block a part of her view, and she tucked it behind her ear. "Wow, that's a lot to do… When was this paper due again?"

Weiss' smile melted away. "Uh… next Tuesday."

Blake's eyes widened, the ends of her long, thick lashes softly tapping her brow bones. The lock of hair behind her ear fell out, hanging annoyingly into her face again. "What?!"

 _Okay, so maybe we're not off to a great start_. "It's okay, Blake, we still have 4-in-a-half days to complete the paper. It's not that bad, right?"

"Yeah, but I have homework from other classes," Blake protested, "and I'm sure you do too. We can't write all those paragraphs and figure out the other parts to it that quickly."

Weiss nodded her head in agreement. It was true; they did have other classes to worry about at the same time as Grimm Studies. They could always meet up together after school or something along those lines… Unless…

An odd idea which Weiss probably should have never mentioned pried itself out through her lips.

"Why don't you come to my house?"

Blake quickly turned her head, the stubborn bang landing softly by her temple, giving a better view of her expertly smoked out eyeshadow and effortless cat-eyeliner flick, now wrinkled from her confused expression. Her sudden stiffening made Weiss internally wince. "What did you say?"

She blushed. Had she really just said that? Inviting Blake over to her home after… well, whatever they had been through? That was bound to get complex. And they didn't need it to get any worse. But ignoring her worries, she continued on. "Um… I said, why don't you come to my house?"

There was a profound, but almost cautious, tone to her voice. "Your… house?"

Panic flared in Weiss' belly. "Er, I mean, we can go to your house too, if you want," she said quickly, eyes widening. "I don't mean anything, uh, weird by it… I just figured that it'd be way easier for us to meet up over the weekend and work on it together so we can get it finished by Monday. That way there's no communication issues or anything like that…" Blake was buying this, right?

The beautiful black-haired beauty stared back into Weiss' now-unconfident glance, her fiery amber eyes almost burning through her retinas. There was something about her emotion that seemed unsure of Weiss' suggestion, as if she was doubtful about accepting the proposition. Back in the summer, if Weiss had done the same thing and tried inviting Blake over, it probably would've been considered a bit risky. A boy and a girl hanging out with each other in one of their homes? Everyone always assumed the worse whenever that kind of situation happened. And if Weiss had actually decided to bring her flirty friendship with Blake to next base and ask "him" over for a private rendezvous, news would have travelled quickly from the housekeeper to her mother, and everyone would've been both suspicious  _and_  nosy.

But now, since Blake was a she, inviting girls over was an easy task; considering her parents still had no idea she had unexpectedly came out as gay at school. Which, hopefully, Blake didn't care that much about, if the rumors had made it to her. In fact, Weiss was pretty certain that she hardly cared at all: at the library, Blake had been the complete opposite of homophobic, often speaking supportively of LGBT (plus the letters "QIA" for queer, intersex, and asexual individuals) rights whenever the subject happened to come across their conversations.

Unfortunately, if they hadn't met earlier over the summer in different circumstances, this supposedly innocent yet serious hang out session wouldn't be so easily comfortable.

"Okay."

Weiss blinked, promptly returning her back to Earth. "... Okay?"

"Yeah. Can I meet up with you on Saturday, at your place?" she asked.

The casual tone of her voice surprised her. "Uh, sure," she replied. "Um, any specific time?"

Blake paused, sliding her fist under her chin, pondering. "Well shoot, I don't think I'd be able to stay long enough to get things done…" she muttered. "Would it… would it be okay if I spent the night? I hope you have a few spare mattresses or something."

Weiss swallowed, stifling a laugh as she thought of the idea of Blake staying over until the next morning light came. "Oh, trust me, we have more than just a couple spare mattresses," she responded lightly, her hands feeling unnaturally tingly.

The bell rang loudly, its wails echoing through the classroom. Except, this time around, they didn't sound so awful to Weiss. "Awesome," Blake said, beginning to gather her books together. "So, what's your address?"

"I'll send it to you through your scroll." Weiss stuffed some papers into a spare folder and stacked it over her notebook. The two simultaneously stood up from their chairs and headed for the exit to the hall, materials filling their arms.

Just before they left out into the large lunch rush, Blake reached out with a free hand and touched Weiss' arm with her fingertips. Her soft touch sent sharp tingles through her skin. "So, I'll see you around tomorrow at 4PM?"

Weiss smiled. "Most definitely."

Blake grinned, spreading her dark red lips to show a set of gleaming teeth that sparkled in the light. Her heart skipped a beat, her jaw almost dropping involuntarily at the sight of it. Weiss felt like the view was perfect: her glowing face, smoky eyes, cute hair. All that bothered her was that single lock of hair, still balancing calmly on her cheek.

Biting her lip a second time, Weiss shifted the weight of her books in one arm and brought her hand to Blake's cheek, gently brushing the hair away from it and scooping it back behind her ear, fingers grazing her soft painted skin. "Sorry, that was… um, bugging me," Weiss said.

But by then, the beautiful smile had already melted off of Blake's face, leaving a blank, confused stare. And it was like she had remembered: their old meetings back at the library over the summer, sitting on bean bags, their bodies close and their gazes warm, talking back and forth about school and hobbies and life and everything sweet or sorrow in between. Weiss discovering about Blake's secret identity as a Faunus, Blake entrusting her with it. The two kissing passionately on the last day of summer.

It pained Weiss' heart that they couldn't be together again, couldn't fall in love the way she had envisioned it, and wanted it to, months and months ago. And whatever it was, it was thanks to Blake. Blake, who was, despite allowing social interaction, still being dishonest and not telling the whole story, not giving some kind of explanation as to why she was in a new body, no longer acknowledging the dear moments they had shared together.

The hurt in Weiss' gaze must have been even more noticeable, because there was an unmistakable guilt about Blake's glance. She swallowed, looking away to the floor, feeling anxiously at the ear Weiss had just touched. And when she looked up again, Weiss could see her eyes on the edge of watering.

"Call me later, okay?" she murmured. And with the swish of her skirt, she turned on her heels and walked away, leaving Weiss to stand alone and bitter as her peers passed by, indifferent and uncaring, unknowing of the difficult situation at hand.

* * *

It was a Saturday morning. Snow littering the gardens and cold wind bustling through the air. Sunshine, rare in the winter, casting its glow over the mansion.  _The_  Saturday morning that Blake was coming.

Weiss shuffled nervously about her bedroom, her bare feet rubbing off the designer rug that had been recently vacuumed. Even if she usually never had to tidy her bedroom thanks to the maids in the house, she had made a special effort to try cleaning it up herself: making trips to the large storage closet, breaking out feather dusters and spray bottles, sweeping and mopping the wood floors, spritzing the windows with ammonia… all, of course, with a little help from the maids too.

After having explored the depths of her big closet when thinking of what to wear, she had finally come down to two outfit selections, and had placed them on her giant bed, staring at them tentatively, wondering which to put on. On one side was a beige long-sleeved blouse and a burgundy pleated skirt that she wore to town; on the other was a gray ruffly top and tight black skinny jeans that she wore at home. Both were casual yet cute, simple yet dressy. Mostly appropriate for project-working attire, but still pretty to look at. At least, that's what Weiss was hoping the outfits were going for.

Even if Blake wasn't acting like a guy anymore, she still couldn't help but feel the need to impress her. She'd spent several hours the night before, contemplating which hairstyle would be most attractive, but also most convenient, for the night when Blake came over. She'd tried deciding on whether to have Blake sleep in a guest bedroom or in her own bedroom: and as risky as a situation it was, wasn't that how regular sleepovers worked? But if she slept in her room, they'd have to pull out a spare bed, or a mattress for the floor, or they could share the same bed…

She sighed, knowing better than to get herself anxious over those kinds of things. The message that she had sent Friday evening that contained her house's address had been difficult alone.

She wondered whether her outfit choices were going too casual or too formal, or if they'd be appropriate for the day. The burgundy skirt fluttered above her knees in length, making it easy for her panties to flash. And the gray top was tiny enough that her bra straps would probably slip out from under its teeny straps. Had she been going for smaller clothes on purpose? The thought made her blush.

Weiss picked up each clothing piece, running her fingers over its material, trying to come to some sort of decision. Only a few minutes later did her eyes wander to a different corner of the room, on a certain strapless black dress with a thick gauzy skirt that she picked up over the summer, hanging listlessly off her closet door, holding on from a pair of invisible straps normally tucked inside of it.

Weiss clearly remembered the laughs she had gotten when her friends had seen her buy it on their big, August shopping trip, in which she had wandered into an obscure, hipstery Hot Topic-like store, filled with gothic clothes. Ripped t-shirts, torn jeans, thick petticoats, and avant-garde jackets adorned the walls, somehow managing to entrance her inside. The dress, standing tall and elegant on the model which it gowned, hadn't even been her color: its dark tones clashing strongly with her light blue eyes and snowy white hair. Even Weiss herself hadn't been entirely sure why she had gotten it. Or so she had claimed, at the time.

In reality, the first person she had thought of when seeing it was Blake. At the time, Blake had given off the impression of a dark, emo guy who only dated a specific kind of girl: the kind of girl who wore black, black lacy dresses and grungy Doc Martens boots. His all-black attire the day she met him had left that lasting impression on her since. And even now, Weiss hardly gave off the impression of someone like that. She still liked wearing plain-colored designer clothing with high fashion heels: and she liked mixing white with her black clothes for a bolder statement.

So when she had seen the dress, it had gotten her thinking about Blake. Sure, emo and goth weren't the same kind of style: the only similarity they had was their color scheme. But she hardly knew what emo girls wore, and the gothic dress was the closest she had found to it, while still being somewhat formal. And besides, she had actually kind of liked the dress.

Unfortunately, Weiss had never been able to work up the courage to wear it to the library after purchasing it. As pretty and striking as it was on her, she'd worried too much about Blake's reaction. Would he have liked it? Would he have hated it? Would he have stated his opinion on it? Would he have even cared? The possible trauma behind the situation's various outcomes had been too much for her to handle.

For no apparent reason, Weiss stripped off her camisole and shorts and pulled the dress off the door. She unzipped the back and tugged it up and over her legs, pulling it on to her torso and awkwardly zipping it closed. She stepped to the large full-length mirror that sat by her window, and stared into its glass reflection.

She couldn't help but laugh at herself: her younger self could've never imagined her in such an outrageous dress. Its dark color contrasted sharply against her skin, and she could already see the people staring if she were to wear it in public. The sweetheart neckline was trimmed with satin, with ribbon lacing up the stomach to tie in a bow under the breast cups. Despite the strange style, she admired it on her body. The corseted bodice minimized the size of her waist, although did little for her small chest: the large skirt billowed gently around her thighs, giving the impression of wider hips. She even did a little twirl, feeling the hem lift up and glide in the air in circles like a pinwheel.

Weiss smiled in the mirror, posing side to side, placing her hands on her hips and tossing her long hair back and forth. She knew she had a pair of black heels somewhere that could match with it: and maybe some dark makeup would add extra flair. The thought made her grimace. She was about as good with makeup as Yang was good at silencing her quick pun wit.

She turned to the wall to check the clock, feeling the air move around her legs as the dress did. It was 3:50PM. Blake was probably on the road by now, heading straight for the Schnee manor. Her heart almost caught itself in her throat at the realization of it. Blake. Coming to her house. For an entire night. That was a fantasy she could only have dreamed of a few months ago. Now it was finally happening.

She had to start seriously getting ready. Unzipping the dress, Weiss pulled the gown down her legs and tossing it inside her closet, shutting the door behind her. She spent 10 last seconds contemplating over her outfit options before finally choosing the blouse and skirt. Looking cute and feminine suddenly became a priority. She fastened the skirt to her waist and pulled a pair of black socks to her thighs, in case Blake didn't like the oxblood polish she had painted on her nails the night before, as a last-minute decision. As she was buttoning up her top, the landline telephone by her left end table rang. The blood drained from her face: the maids only called when a visitor had arrived. Or for their chores like doing laundry. But in this case, it could only have been for one reason.

Reluctantly, she padded to the end table and picked up the phone, placing it to her ear and twirling the cord in her fingers. "Y-Yes?" she asked.

"Miss Schnee, there's a guest parked outside the gate," a maid's voice spoke. "Her name is Blake Belladonna, and she claims to be a friend of yours?"

Weiss' eyes widened. She'd arrived 10 minutes early. "Yes, yes, let her in, please," she said quickly. "I-I've was expecting her company. She's the guest I mentioned to you earlier?"

"Of course, miss. Pardon my ignorance, there was a quick staff change earlier... We'll bring her to the front entrance. Shall we take her up to your personal quarters upon entry?"

"No, no... I'll be there at the door," Weiss stammered.

"Very well, miss. I'll see you there." The maid hung up on the other end, probably going out to fetch Blake and take her inside.

Weiss returned the phone to its resting spot and ran out of her bedroom, shutting the door not so quietly and scampering down the hall, running straight past the elevator and bolting towards the giant staircase. She skipped down the steps, rolling her eyes to herself as to why her father had decided to put her room on the fourth floor of the mansion, and why the steps had to be made of slippery marble.

She had arrived on the last set of stairs, being able to see the front door across the big living entrance area, filled with professionally upholstered couches and imported wooden chairs, and she skipped down, trying not to make any sort of misstep that would cause her to trip and fall. And just as she padded across the carpet, her soles warm from friction, she saw the doorknob begin to turn.

Weiss drew in her breath sharply, staring with wide eyes as the door clicked, about to open. She quickly looked down at her clothes to make sure they weren't rumpled, nervously smoothing down her skirt, patting gently at her hair to make sure no baby hairs were sticking up, running a hand over her combed ponytail. It was only when she started feeling at the buttons on her blouse that she realized that she hadn't yet changed out of her black bra: it showed through the light-colored fabric like a shadow through a clear window.

But the panic had registered too late—the door was already open and one of the maids, dressed in a high-collared black shirt & skirt uniform with a clean white apron, entered with a familiar, dark-haired girl behind her.

Just as she had expected, Blake had shown up looking casual. Her black hair had been pinned by the back of her head, a long thick braid resting on the right side of her chest. She hadn't done her makeup as extravagantly as she usually did for school: in fact, it looked like she wasn't wearing any at all. Her pale face didn't seem to be shaded by any bronzer or blush, her eyebrows weren't colored in, her lips were unpainted, and her eyes weren't lined, or packed with shimmery eyeshadow. However, there was almost a sort of natural beauty to her face that afternoon. No dark circles were under her eyes, her full mouth wasn't chapped, and her eyelashes still fluttered long like a hood over her irises. As for how she was dressed, her outfit reminded Weiss, with a bitter sting, of how she used to dress over the summer. Regardless of the hot weather, Blake had always gone out in black hoodies, black jeans, and black canvas sneakers. But today, she had traded the regular black skinny pair for navy, no longer appearing as dark as she used to.

Weiss exhaled slowly, taking in her appearance almost in awe. Even when she wasn't dressed formally, in the Beacon Academy uniform with pretty makeup and lovely hair, she still looked as beautiful as ever. If she hadn't been so infatuated, Weiss probably would've been green with jealousy: she could never pull off a look so effortless as that. Even if she was an expert at putting on cosmetics and arranging her hair, it would've been so hard to come even close to Blake's beauty. But now she was just the opposite: pink with adoration.

As she entered the room, Blake's jaw dropped lightly, her head tilting side to side to explore the room's grandiosity with her intense amber eyes. She glanced from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, before coming to observe the expensive furniture and the gleaming staircase. The words "welcome to the Schnee Manor, Miss Belladonna," from the maid seemed to have been ignored, lost in translation as she continued to take in the splendor of the mansion. Weiss forced up a small smile. At least impressing Blake with her house had already been covered by the interior designer her parents had hired years back.

Blake finally stopped eyeing the whole room when her gaze came to meet Weiss'. Their eyes locked instantly, and Weiss swallowed a nervous gulp and quickly crossed the room to formally meet her. "Blake," she breathed, coming to a halt a foot away from her. "I'm glad you could make it, I didn't know you'd be here so early…"

She was surprised to see Blake not reply: just stand there and stare at her incredulously. It felt a tad awkward, and Weiss suddenly felt enormously self-conscious. Had her hair frizzed up? Was her skirt a strange length? Did she see the black bra protruding like a broken bone out of her beige blouse? Would she be able to read her mind judging from how badly she was probably blushing? "Um, Blake?" she asked in a small voice, her hands grasping each other.

"Um, Weiss?" Blake repeated. "How come you never told me you were so… rich?" Her voice was mixed with amusement and amazement.

Weiss laughed nervously. "I… forgot?"

To her heart's content, Blake cracked a big smile. "Like, oh my god, Weiss…" She turned around in a circle to admire the room once again, her arms swinging around her. "Like… wow." She pointed to the living area filled with furniture. "Are those all designer brands?"

"Um, yes," Weiss replied, trying to recall any significant names. "My parents are a big fan of the company French Heritage."

She raised an eyebrow. "French Heritage? Sounds pricy." She aimed an index finger at one of the silkily-upholstered arm chairs that lay by one of the far corners of the room with a high end table flanking its side. "How much did that chair cost?"

Weiss felt her face grow blank. "Um... $4,170?"

Blake's jaw dropped farther down that time. "$4,000?!" she demanded, her grin widening. "Do you guys at least have anything practical, like Ikea furniture?"

Weiss blinked. "Pardon?"

Blake snorted, tilting her head in complete disbelief. "Never mind."

Weiss could only imagine the shade of red her cheeks had turned. "So, uh… have you had dinner yet? We can eat now, or I can have the maids bring up a meal while we work, if you like."

Blake laughed, music to Weiss' ears. "I mean, as much as I'd love to try the food your cook makes… you have a cook right?" Weiss nodded. "... We should probably start working on the project." While her eyes still seemed light, they were also focused with a new kind of energy: the energy to be productive.

Weiss smiled, her heart beating vigorously. "O-Of course."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA Weiss is rich as fuck

"So what's this room?"

Blake was pointing with her clear-painted nails towards a white wooden door decorated with blue and white flowers along the panels, detailed with swirls and vines. The handle was golden and brass, wiped clean of any previous finger prints from a working maid.

"That's the door to the maid's quarters," Weiss clarified. She opened the door, feeling bad for ruining the polished door handle, to show her the short hallway, with the various other doors inside. "It's where a fifth of the maids sleep. They each have their own bedrooms, an elevator, and a communal bathroom. There's a storage closet in the back too filled with cleaning supplies. I use it sometimes when they're all busy," she added.

Blake, for probably the 50th time, dropped her jaw. "You have an entire area on the 3rd floor dedicated for your maids?" she demanded.

"Well, yeah," Weiss replied sheepishly. "I mean, the 1st floor one is nicer, since they have a kitchen and full bathroom with tubs and showers, but they have access to those amenities too if they wish, it's just... farther away."

"We skipped the downstairs maid quarters?!"

It had been like this for the past half hour or so. Blake's impulse to work on their Ursai project had basically vanished by the time they went up from the 1st floor, now exchanged for a sense of uncontrolled curiosity. The "quick tour" that Weiss hadn't even intended to give had gone on for quite a while. So far they had gone around the first floor, visiting the public living room, the private living room, the dining room, the ballroom, and the spacious kitchen, before eventually heading up the stairs to the 2nd floor, in which Blake had begged they'd stop to look around. They had passed the 2nd floor living room, the sunroom, the guest's quarters hallway, and the main bathroom, which Blake had spent several minutes rubbing her bare feet against the heated marbled floor, running her hands over the sleek counters and even hopping briefly in the giant indoor hot tub, admiring the various jets and settings.

As adorable as it had been to see her have so much fun, Weiss couldn't help but feel a little guilty for bringing her to the mansion now. It didn't feel fair. Clearly Blake had never lived in such a big house, and her family's wealth was starting to feel more embarrassing than she'd thought. Compared to Blake's childhood, of moving between different households since she had no parents, Weiss had lived a more privileged, expensive lifestyle. It made her stomach twist uncomfortably at the thought of it.

"So, do you have your own, uh, 'quarters'?" Blake asked inquisitively, the flowery door now behind them. They were now on the 3rd floor, about to pass by her sister Winter's quarters, the communal study, and the family battle arena.

"Er, yeah, I do..." Weiss responded shyly. The idea of Blake in her quarters at all made her heart skip. Not that it wasn't throbbing like an arrow in her rib cage already. "I mean, do you want to start heading up there soon? It's on the fourth floor. Or we could always work in the big study, it's on this floor. We could also go to my sister's private study, she has nicer computers, but she's not home so the door might be locked..."

"Can we check out the big study?" Blake's amber eyes sparkled with excitement. She suddenly shook her head, shutting her eyes as her fingertips went to her temples to push some escaped strands of hair away. "Oh my god, I can't," she laughed. "Can we just check out the rest of this floor? This is just... so amazing!"

With any other person, maybe Weiss would've sighed. Her patience might've already been at its end if this had been with someone else. But with Blake, Weiss just couldn't say no. Moments of seeing Blake acting passionate some days felt rare. Even when they had been seeing each other at the library, Blake had only ever gotten animated whenever talking about something she loved, especially novels or book series. Now, whenever the two had conversation, it was only really about how their day was going, classes they had together, and the project they were working on. It was never about anything remotely interesting. To see her genuinely enjoying herself as they went around the mansion made Weiss want to smile as weirdly wide as she possibly could and wrap her arms around her.

She shrugged. "Why not?" Blake grinned and, as if without thinking, let her hand swoop by and into Weiss', grasping hers. Weiss swore she couldn't hear a heartbeat drumming inside of her for at least 3 seconds. "Lead me," Blake murmured, biting her lip as if to hold down the enthusiasm in her voice.

Weiss could hardly believe it. Blake was in so much awe that she was willing to hold hands with her?! She wondered for an intense second if Blake would suddenly realize what she had done and take it back, slipping her warm palm away from hers. But she just stood there, her fingers laced with hers, waiting expectantly for Weiss to start walking. She couldn't tell if this was just something that Blake regularly did with friends (which it didn't seem to be over the summer), or if this was something purely, maybe, impetuous. It brought her back to yesterday, how when she had brushed some of Blake's bangs away from her face, and the awkward heavy tension that had come with it. Was she possibly trying to make up for it? Sure, what Weiss had done had been a little out of line, but Blake's disappointed reaction was more painful to see.

Trying her hardest not to scream, Weiss shuffled with Blake hand-in-hand (hand-in-hand) down towards the upstairs ballroom, transformed over the years into an indoor mini battle arena where she and Winter used to train together. They looked in for a moment to see the gothic-like style of the room and the gigantic statue that resembled a medieval knight. "Subtle," Blake had said. They had passed through the big study, where Weiss showed her the various desks and drawers filled with office supplies, from construction paper to fountain pens, spare notebooks to dictionaries. They even went into a spare room which Weiss' parents had turned into a place to house their enormous wine bottle collection. Shelves upon shelves upon shelves were crowded with them: Weiss had wished that they had skipped that door, but Blake had wanted to see. She was certain that she thought that her parents were alcoholics now.

After they skimmed by Winter's quarters, Blake let out a slow exhale, as if breathing into the atmosphere. "Wow, well... this has been insane," she giggled. She pivoted on her heels towards Weiss, the light in her eyes seeming less fired up, now calmer. "Should we start working on the project now?"

Weiss nodded in agreement. They should probably get working soon. It was only 4:30PM, and they had a lot of work to do. "Yeah, let's just go up to my rooms," she told her. "I'll have the maids make dinner while we work. Does 6 o'clock work for you?"

Blake's lips curled into a smile. "Uh-huh. That sounds perfect."

Weiss proceeded to lead Blake up the next set of stairs, as somehow their hands were still locked, and up on to the 4th floor, where she brought her directly to the door to her quarters, swayed open from when she had rushed out and down to the 1st floor. "So, this is where I am," Weiss said awkwardly as they padded down the wooden flooring of the hall. Blake, as if sensing the tension, immediately unlaced her fingers from hers, the warmth disappearing like a candle going out. A part of Weiss was disappointed and anxious that she had let go so quickly, but she shoved the notion away.

"Um, I have a bedroom, a bathroom, a study, and a storage room for clothes that I don't wear..." She opened the door to her bedroom and led her inside, clicking the door behind her, hoping the place looked tidy enough. When she turned, she noticed with low-key horror the rejected outfit she'd dismissed lying on her bed, and the black strapless dress left abandoned on the floor. Damn it. She could've at least thrown both of them in her closet.

"Whoa, nice bed," Blake remarked. Thankfully her reaction hadn't been as exuberant compared to the other rooms. She shifted over towards it, where she picked up the gray tank top with a hand, admiring it. "And this is a cute top," she added.

"Th-Thanks," Weiss stuttered. "Sorry, I left some clothes out." She rushed over to the dress on the carpet and opened the door of her closet, tossing it inside. Quickly trying to come up with something to say, she thought of how Blake had showed up without a backpack or anything. It struck her as a bit puzzling. "So, did you bring anything?"

"Shit, I was gonna tell you when I came in." Blake's gaze averted to the floor, her eyebrows now furrowed with irritation. "My foster sibling is going out camping tonight and ended up borrowing my school backpack because he couldn't find his, so I didn't have much of a way of bringing all my books here. And the family computer isn't exactly portable, so I copied all of my notes online in an email sent to myself before I got here. So..." she looked up to Weiss nervously, apologetic. "I was wondering if you had an extra computer you could spare?" she asked.

Weiss blinked. "Oh."

Blake's left, perfectly plucked, eyebrow lifted. "O-Oh?"

"Why didn't you say so?" Weiss headed over to her desk and opened up one of the lower drawers. After a bit of digging around, blowing dust on the old devices, she latched her fingers onto one in particular and produced a gray, 11.6 inch Apple MacBook Air, an other hand holding its charging cord. "I get a bunch of computers from relatives for my birthday," she explained. "It's a lazy gift, you know? Usually only $1,000 or $2,000, only the ones that care bother to get something wild go up by 5 times."

Instead of gasping like how Weiss had expected her to, Blake just put her hands to her face and moaned softly. "Your family is crazy," she declared.

"I agree," Weiss replied. She held out the laptop to her. "So does this work for you?"

Blake smiled, taking it out of her hands. "Absolutely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> merry holidays friends :D
> 
> i hardly ever use the whole chapter notes thing for this fic, so im thinking i should start doing that??  
> anyways, any feedback or advice on the chapter or story overall would be super cool: im aware that this chapter is lower quality than the others (SORRY) so any pointers would be super super great 
> 
> p.s. the wine bottle room is important!! 
> 
> have a great christmas! now go make out with a snowman


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